Forgive The Insubordination
by mpissott
Summary: Commander Noelle Shepard never liked aliens-never thought much of them at all, really-until she met Garrus Vakarian. Rated M for language and occasional explicit scenes.
1. Prologue

If there's one thing Commander Noelle Shepard is known for, it's _not_ her cheery nature. Kicking ass and taking names? Absolutely. But friendliness is not her strong suit. She's pleasant with crew members and generally reserved, but she's certainly rough around the edges. Noelle keeps people at a distance-it's what she's always done. Needless to say, as she walked up the steps of the Citadel Tower to meet with the Council, her typical "Commander Shepard scowl"-as she'd heard some of the crew call it-was plastered to her face.

The only reason Shepard is meeting with the Council is because of her mission to Eden Prime. It was supposed to be a simple shakedown run-a way to test the new prototype ship, _The Normandy_ before she endured serious missions. However, a turian Spectre named Nihlus had shown up, and the mission became a race to find a Prothean Beacon, as well as an assessment for Commander Shepard to join the Spectres. The mission had gone awry, resulting in Nihlus' death, the destruction of the beacon, and the uncovering of a traitor. This traitor is another turian Spectre, named Saren, who sabotaged the mission on Eden Prime and killed Nihlus. The human ambassador arranged a meeting with the Council to discuss the results of an investigation into Saren's traitorous behavior.

Her indignant glower remained as she stepped up to two turians that she didn't recognize. Shepard already had a distaste for aliens, turians in particular. Human relations with them were strained at best, violent at worst, due to the First Contact War that had broken out when the turians and humans discovered each other; this didn't seem like it would change anytime soon. Noelle personally finds turians to be too rigid; they're too militant-which is bad coming from someone in the military. They follow orders blindly, never thinking to question their superiors. Shepard knew from her experiences on Torfan that this isn't always the best option. As she thought this, she witnessed her first act of turian defiance.

"Saren's hiding something!" the one with the visor shouted. "Give me more time. Stall them."

The other turian shook his head and scoffed, "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus."

Noelle stared at Garrus, who placed his-what was it? a hand, a talon?-whatever it was on his head exasperatedly while the other turian walked away. Garrus is tall, a common trait in turians. His face is a dark gray, with deep blue paint under his eyes and along his mandibles. He was wearing light armor, as expected from someone in C-Sec, but had a blue visor across his left eye. Shepard found this curious, as a C-Sec officer would hardly have a need for such a tactical piece of equipment. His eyes are as blue as a pool of fresh water, and Shepard felt herself staring into them. She stopped as soon as Garrus noted the presence of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and herself. He promptly straightened his posture and turned to greet them, seemingly unaware of Noelle's strange glances.

"Commander Shepard?" he started. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

 _Wait a minute_ , Shepard thought, _a turian investigating another turian? You've got to be kidding me_. Turians always look out for their own, regardless of right or wrong. Of course he wouldn't find anything! Indignantly, Noelle crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at him. Her voice rich with sarcasm, she retorted, "Sounds like you really want to bring him down."

"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way," Garrus admitted. "But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence."

Shepard observed his body language as he spoke, and soon realized that he was actually telling the truth. His fists were clenched, his mandibles flared. From what she knew about turian vocal undertones-which was very little-she could hear how frustrated he was feeling. All of the signs of turian aggression were found in Garrus in that moment, and while Shepard had never seen a turian willing to take down one of their own, she couldn't deny the hunger in his eyes.

Shepard and Garrus made eye contact for a brief moment, in which she finally relaxed her stance. As she was about to speak, she heard Lieutenant Alenko say, "I think the Council's ready for us, Commander."

Noelle sighed and looked to Garrus. "Okay," she said, convinced of his determination. "Hopefully what you found will be enough to convince the Council." Without thinking, Shepard reached to shake Garrus' hand. She wasn't even sure that turians shook hands, but without hesitation he had returned the gesture. Shepard thought it odd that she was being so pleasant with a turian; she bore no love, and little respect for the species so foreign to her. Even so, Garrus' three-fingered hand connecting with hers almost felt...natural.

"Good luck, Commander," he said. "Maybe they'll listen to you."

She smirked at him and walked away. Whatever had just transpired was extremely out of her comfort zone, but not _uncomfortable_ at all. Garrus Vakarian is no ordinary turian, and she knew that wasn't the last she'd see of him.


	2. Chapter 1

Garrus was pinned in the corner of Dr. Michel's med clinic in the wards the next time he saw Commander Shepard. His leads from his investigation into Saren led him here, where Fist-a known criminal on the Citadel-sent his thugs, who proceeded to threaten the doctor. He was trying to figure out the best way to take the thugs out without putting Dr. Michel in danger when his distraction arrived in the form of the human Commander, her Lieutenant, and the other human that looked at him like he had two heads. The Commander made eye contact with him immediately, and the smirk he had seen once already today reappeared on her face along with a wink. That was the only cue Garrus needed.

He lunged out of cover and shot at the man holding a gun to Dr. Michel's head. He wanted to continue his assault but was enraptured by the Commander's skills in battle. He soon realized that she was skilled in tech abilities, watching her overload one thug's shield while pulling out her shotgun and taking down another. She moved with the grace of an asari commando and the discipline of a turian soldier-he couldn't help but stare. This human was certainly the most interesting one he'd ever met.

Garrus hadn't thought much of the other humans he'd met; being in C-Sec he'd mostly come into contact with politicians, criminals, or a combination of the two. Commander Shepard was the first one he'd encountered that seemed to deserve any respect.

The Commander finished off Fist's thugs in no time, bringing Garrus back to the present. She turned to Garrus, her face serious for a moment before the corners of her mouth turned up into a smirk, which he was starting to think was her signature expression.

"Nice shot," she said, breaking the silence, "Good to see you again, Officer Vakarian."

"The pleasure's all mine, Commander," he responded in kind, the turian equivalent of a smirk playing on his face at her praise. He hadn't had more than one interaction with the Commander before feeling admittedly comfortable in her presence-he was wary of humans, but he had a good feeling about her. He was admiring her features-her short, dark brown hair, peircing green eyes, and the mysterious scar that ran from her left eyebrow to her right cheek-when he realized that they had been silent for a less than comfortable amount of time.

Snapping out of his daze, he cleared his throat and said, "Dr. Michel, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you." She said, seemingly calming down from the barrage of gunfire in her clinic.

"Happy to help," the Commander said with a tender smile, placing a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "I know those men threatened you. But if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you.

Dr. Michel took a second, but then softened under the Commander's touch. "They work for Fist," she murmured, clearly still shaken up by the events of the last few minutes, "they wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"What quarian?" Shepard softened her tone, no doubt in an effort to keep Dr. Michel comfortable.

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Then what?"

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Garrus interjected, "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" Dr. Michel asked incredulously. "That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer.

"That quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

Commander Shepard looked at him now, her eyes wide with realization. "She must have something that proves he's a traitor. Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?"

"She did!" Dr. Michel exclaimed, clearly glad she was able to help. "The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth."

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the Council can ignore this!"

"Time we paid Fist a visit," the Commander said.

She looked at her squadmates and made a move to leave before Garrus stopped her. He hadn't known what he would say yet, but this was big-he had to be a part of it.

"This is your show Shepard," he started, making it up as he went along, "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!"

"You're a turian," she scoffed, making Garrus take a step back. "Why do you want to bring him down?"

Garrus felt his anger boiling inside him, but quickly responded, trying not to anger the human as well. "I couldn't find the the proof I needed in my investigation, but I knew what was really going on. Saren is a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"

Shepard looked in his eyes for a brief moment, clearly questioning his intentions, before she softened. Her smirk returned and she held her hand out to Garrus as she did in the tower. "That's what I like to hear. Welcome aboard, Garrus."

Even though she seemed satisfied, Garrus felt the need to further show his commitment to the cause. An idea struck him.

"You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

"Yeah, we heard about him," he'd heard from behind Shepard. It was the female human traveling with her. She didn't seem happy to have Garrus bring up the krogan.

A krogan? Noelle was already nervous about having one non-human in her squad, but at least she knew turians could follow orders. Everything she had heard about the krogan painted them as comparable to animals, but she needed all the help she could get, so she replied "A krogan might come in handy."

"Last I heard he was at the C-Sec academy."

"What's he doing there?" She had heard the skepticism in Ashley's voice just prior, but this time it came from Kaidan.

"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If you hurry, you can catch him before he leaves."

Shepard smirked at Garrus's emphasis of the words "little talk." In the small amount of time she had been around Garrus, Noelle noticed that he was breaking _all_ the rules. He genuinely wanted to bring Saren to justice, so much that he would willingly work with a krogan-who she knew turians didn't get along with. That, along with his cunning in battle intrigued her. With just one look, she was able to convey an order to him, and he obeyed by shooting the thug holding Dr. Michel hostage. As wary as she is of turians as a whole, she felt a connection with Garrus, a need to be nice. She had never been nice to turians; she could not see why this one should be any different, but he was. He had already proved her wrong by going after Saren, and he continued to do so by resuming his investigation without permission. In that moment, she decided she needed Garrus on her team; someone determined, with personal stake in the issue.

"Alright," Shepard sighed, finally willing herself to recruit the krogan. "Welcome aboard, Garrus. Lieutenant, return to the Normandy; Garrus is going to be accompanying me on this one."

She caught a glimpse of the lieutenant-was he scowling at Garrus?-but when he looked at her, he saluted and replied, "Aye aye, ma'am."

Wrex was certainly a type of person Commander Shepard wasn't used to dealing with-not in the Alliance, anyway. Alliance soldiers were structured, obedient, and usually reserved, not speaking unless they were spoken to. Wrex was _completely_ the opposite. You couldn't keep that thing from it's goal if you tried. He had a lot of attitude and an urge to fight, and reluctantly, he reminded Shepard of herself. He was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, like she had done on Torfan. She may not like aliens, but she damn-well respected Wrex's determination.

With Wrex and Garrus at her side, Shepard invaded Chora's Den and made her way into Fist's office. He revealed that he had sent the quarian straight into the arms of one of Saren's assassins, and they had to act quickly. Before she could get her thoughts together, Wrex shot Fist. Like she said-he gets the job done, no matter what.

Shepard, Garrus and Wrex left as quickly as they could-if they didn't reach the quarian in time, their only shot at bringing down Saren was gone. Wrex even slammed through a door on the way, forcing Shepard to stifle a laugh. The quarian was seconds away from being killed when Shepard and her squad arrived. Just as the assassin reached for his gun, Garrus took out his sniper rifle and put a bullet right through his head. Shepard had to regain her composure upon watching him take the shot; she admired his finesse. She knew how to use a sniper rifle, but was better at shotguns; more straightforward and in-your-face. Garrus just looked over to her and nodded his head after taking the shot, like it was something as easy as breathing. It had taken them minutes to wipe out the other assassins, and they ran to the quarian.

Her name was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She was on her pilgrimage, some rite of passage for the quarian race, when she had discovered audio on a disabled geth proving Saren's guilt. They brought the evidence to Udina, the human ambassador, immediately and he took Tali, telling Shepard, Wrex and Garrus to meet him in the Citadel Tower for another meeting with the Council.

The meeting with the Council went the way it should have the first time-with Saren's Spectre status revoked, and Shepard being initiated as the first human Spectre. Her first mission was, of course, to bring Saren down- _no big deal, right?_ she thought. However, she had to admit, she was proud to be humanity's first Spectre.

As the meeting came to a close, she turned to see Garrus walking up to her. "It's been a pleasure, ma'am," he said before reaching out for a final handshake. "Now, do us all a favor and take that bastard down."

Shepard's stomach sunk, but she didn't know why. As she shook his hand and watched him walk away, her instincts kicked in. "Vakarian, where do you think you're going?!" she shouted, "We have a rogue Spectre to track down, get your ass back here! Or would you rather be sifting through paperwork for some politician who was called a bad name?"

He turned around, what she thought was a smirk playing on his face. "Wouldn't dream of it ma'am."

Garrus had gotten comfortable on the Normandy within the next few days. He found a space in the shuttle bay where he could tinker with the Mako. He had made at least two friends on the ship-Wrex and Tali were also invited to join the Normandy's crew. They were even on their way to pick up an asari named Liara T'Soni. He couldn't speak for the human crew, though; Kaidan and Ashley both seemed wary of him. That didn't matter though-he was getting the opportunity of a lifetime, and he wouldn't miss it just because a couple humans didn't like him.

In all the things Garrus had read about Shepard, he had learned that she was ruthless, and a typical human; wary of aliens in every way. Her efforts on Torfan proved that she would stop at nothing if it meant keeping humans alive. Nothing could have prepared him for the real Commander Shepard, though. She was funny, sarcastic, and generally friendly. Her eyes sparkled when she spoke about the things she enjoyed-from what Garrus gathered, that included shooting things, listening to music, and reading. So far, nothing he read about her seemed true; she was extremely pleasant to be around. Sure, she seemed distrusting of the aliens within the first few minutes of meeting them, but she also warmed up to everyone quickly.

On the way to find the asari, Garrus was trying to optimize the Mako's combat. He was calibrating the guns and trying to upgrade the armor, when Commander Shepard stepped off the elevator. She must have just showered because her fringe-oh right, humans called it _hair_ -was wet. She was wearing an Alliance hoodie and matching sweatpants, and holding two beers. He was shocked when she walked over to him and placed one of those beers in his hand. Great, now he had to find a way to tell her he couldn't eat or drink anything that humans could. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Shepard beat him to it.

"Don't worry," she said, "I got you that dextro shit. Can't have you being poisoned on my watch, ya know?" She smiled and sat down on a crate next to Garrus. "Besides, I figure on a mission like this, I need to keep all my crew well fed, and occasionally drunk."

Garrus chuckled at that. "Careful Shepard, you might mess with my aim. Your best sniper can't be all wobbly going out on a mission."

"Speaking of which, where the hell did you learn how to use a sniper rifle like that?" she asked. Her eyes were bright, genuine curiosity written all over her face.

Her innocent appearance made him smile. "The turian military helps with that. I can't say the same about the Alliance, you can't aim for shit."

"Hey, hey, hey!" she countered, "You may be able to pick enemies off with your fancy rifle but get a bullet from my shotgun in your face and your mouth would be on the opposite end of the room from your eyes." She howled with laughter at her own joke.

While she was laughing, Garrus got a really good look at her. Based on what he knew about humans, she was attractive for her species. She had shoulder length, dark brown hair, and full lips. She had curves that you would barely see in the outfit she was wearing, but in a dress would be so obvious human men could become animalistic at their presence. She carried herself with confidence and wasn't afraid to be herself, regardless of who she was talking to. The only physical fault she had-if you would even call it that-was a long scar across her face. Even so, she's what the humans refer to as a "knockout". Garrus's thoughts were confirmed by almost every human male on the ship-his visor detected their heartbeats increasing every time they spoke to her.

Garrus realized that he needed to think of something to say quickly so he didn't make her uncomfortable. When her laughter subsided, he cleared his throat and said, "So, did you just come down here to threaten the lone turian on your crew?"

"Nah," she replied, her composure back to normal, "I just want to get to know my crew; you're the one that's being the big macho ball-buster." Another smile emerged on her face.

At that, Garrus prompted her to start asking him questions, to which he would respond and ask her a question. He learned about the colony she came from-Mindoir-which was victim to a slaver raid, leaving her the only survivor in her family. She learned about his family-his father, sister, and ailing mother. She told him about enlisting and about her decisions on Torfan, and he realized that the reason she had the reputation she did wasn't because it was true. On paper, anyone looking at her abandoning her crew on Torfan would find her to be ruthless and cold. But get to know the real Commander Shepard, and you would feel totally different. There was a charm about her; she had layers, ones that she would only reveal when she was ready, to people that deserve it. There was something that drew Garrus in about her, and he hoped he'd be one of those people that deserved to learn more about her.

They drank a few more beers each and talked into the night, joking and learning what they could about each other. It felt more like old friends catching up than two strangers getting to know each other. However, the mood shifted late into the night.

Shepard was just laughing at a joke that Garrus had told, when she looked to her right and stopped all together. She dropped her head, and Garrus asked if she was okay.

"Yeah…" she said, sounding unsure of herself, "I think I just had too much beer." She chuck;ed, but it wasn't as light-hearted as before. "Hey, Garrus, I have to go, but we should do this again sometime."

She rested her hand on his shoulder and walked back to the elevator. Garrus looked to where Shepard looked before she stopped laughing, and found the face of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams scowling at him. At that point he realized, getting along with Shepard was the easy part. But the people that sought the idea of Commander Shepard-the heartless, xenophobic war hero-would be a problem of their own.


	3. Chapter 2

Noelle continued visiting the crew, including Garrus, on a regular basis. She had gotten to know all of them well, but enjoyed herself the most when joking around with the turian. On the battlefield, they had already developed a speechless system of understanding, exchanging instructions in the form of looks, and that was translating to life on the Normandy as well. Shepard had never been this comfortable with a turian, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

It was blatantly obvious how her human crew felt. Kaidan, though not openly expressing his surprise and confusion about Noelle's friendship with Garrus, was clearly uncomfortable and seemed to view Garrus as a threat, though the commander couldn't understand why. Gunnery Chief Williams, on the contrary, was rather vocal about her opinion of Garrus and the other aliens on the ship.

Noelle noticed Williams' discomfort the first night she spent talking to Garrus on the Normandy. They were enjoying themselves, cracking jokes at each other's expense, when Noelle looked to her right only to see Ashley staring at her, appearing extremely discontented. The next morning, Shepard resolved to ask Williams if she had anything she needed to say. However, before the Commander could even utter a word, she got exactly the response she was expecting.

"I'm concerned about the aliens. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship? I mean, the vids always painted you a certain way and I expected-"

Shepard cut her off before she could finish. "What? Expected me to only take you and Alenko on missions? That Vakarian, Wrex, Tali, and the asari we're going to get were only brought aboard to appease the Council? If you haven't noticed Williams, I'm not here to appease anyone." Shepard immediately grew defensive at the Gunnery Chief's assumptions.

"Commander, I just assumed based on your actions on Torfan...I mean, you wiped out the batarians…"

"Everyone assumes things about Torfan," Shepard interrupted, "Commander Shepard, the ruthless, xenophobic bitch, right? The thing about that is they only know a fraction of that story-of my story. Honestly Williams, I respect the fact that you came to me with this; it's more than Alenko would do. But this is my ship; not yours, Vakarian's, Alenko's, or anyone else's- _mine_. All of the 'aliens'-who have names, by the way-are important parts of the crew, and talented fighters. They are people that _I_ picked to be a part of _my_ crew. So your concerns seem like more of a problem to you than they are to me. I suggest you resolve this inner conflict or your time on the Normandy will be cut short."

Williams stood there in shock. The Commander knew that she had been a bit tough on Williams, but she felt very defensive of her crew, and her decisions. Since her actions on Torfan, Noelle's reputation escalated; she was no longer a woman in the eyes of the people, she was an object to be admired. Though she put on a show for anyone that required it, Shepard's reputation bothered her. Ashley quickly regained her composure and said, "Aye aye, ma'am. It won't be a problem." The Commander then placed her hands on Williams shoulder, gave a caring but stern smile, and walked away, convinced she had proved her point.

"Now, suit up Williams, you and Vakarian are coming to get Liara with me."

The mission on Therum, as was becoming the norm for Shepard, was a bit of a shit show. They had to fight their way through waves of geth to get to the excavation site where they found Dr. T'Soni, trapped in some sort of Prothean stasis field. They had to use a mining laser to get to the asari, and when they found her, they had to fight through an insane krogan and his squad of geth while the active volcano collapsed around them.

When they'd returned to the Normandy, it gave Shepard the chance to assess Dr. T'Soni. She seemed genuinely appalled by her mother's actions, and shocked about Shepard's ability to withstand the beacon's message. With Dr. T'Soni's theories combined with Shepard's vision they were able to confirm the Reaper threat-before Dr. T'Soni grew faint and had to lie down. Shepard hoped Liara wouldn't be a liability, but she wasn't sure yet.

That night, the Commander walked to her cabin, only to find Williams in the mess hall talking to Garrus and Wrex. The Commander greeted them all, and shot Williams an approving smile.

Commander Shepard got ready for sleep and closed her eyes. She wasn't prepared for what happened next.

 _Garrus came walking into her cabin, only to find the Commander with her eyes closed. He went to turn around but ended up knocking over some datapads, waking the Commander. Groggily, she said, "Oh, Garrus, hi. Did you need something?" Shepard, seemingly prepared for anything at any time, quickly shook off the cobwebs while Garrus got his thoughts together._

" _Uh, sorry," he started, "I didn't know you were asleep. I just...I overheard Williams and your conversation today about me, Tali, Wrex, and Liara, and well...thanks. For sticking up for us. You didn't have to."_

 _The Commander flashed a quick smile and replied, "Oh, Garrus, you don't need to thank me for that. I was just telling the truth. Please, sit down, we didn't get to talk today and I'd like to share a drink."_

 _Garrus sat down as the Commander pulled out two types of liquid; one for humans, another for turians. She poured them each a glass and sat pensively before saying, "You know, Garrus, I can't figure out what it is about you; you intrigue me. From the moment I met you, I understood you, and you understood me. Do you know how rare that is?" She took a sip from her glass and continued, "No one really gets me, they only get the idea of the great Commander Shepard...but you see Noelle."_

 _Then, Shepard did something she never thought she would do. She sat right next to Garrus, used her hand to pull his face to hers, and kissed him. She didn't know why, but it had felt like she wanted to do this forever._

Shepard jolted up, startled by her own dream. She went into her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Garrus? Did she have feelings for Garrus? She knew he had become a great friend, but having romantic feelings for him was another story entirely. Though she didn't enjoy it, she had somewhat of a reputation to uphold. A turian-human romance between her and the rogue C-Sec officer would do nothing to reinforce that reputation. It was then that the Commander knew what she had to do. She got dressed and went out into the mess hall for breakfast. A little while later, she saw Alenko at his usual spot, and gained her composure.

She sauntered over to him, looked flirtatiously, and said,"Hey, Alenko, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Garrus had decided in between missions that he needed to talk to Shepard-to thank her. A few days ago he had been working on the Mako when he overheard the Commander talking to Chief Williams. Williams was complaining about the aliens on the ship, and Commander Shepard had defended all of them. After that, Williams wasn't exactly friendly, but she had stopped staring at him like he had two heads. He had been grateful that the Commander intervened and made life more comfortable for him on the ship. He needed her to know that.

When he woke up in the morning he stepped on to the elevator to speak to Shepard in her cabin. He knocked on her door only to hear her laughter coming from the mess hall. He looked over and saw Shepard talking to Lieutenant Alenko. Shepard had regular conversations with all of her crew, but Garrus could tell this was different. Shepard was acting like a teenage girl, twirling her hair and laughing a little too loud at the Lieutenant's jokes. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she was interested in Kaidan.

 _But what if she is interested in him?_ Garrus thought. He wasn't sure why the thought bothered him so much. Alenko seemed like a good person overall, if not a little wary of Garrus himself. But he didn't seem like Shepard's type. He was attractive by human standards, but her previous conversations with him seemed to have little relevance and resembled small talk more than flirtation. He was a skilled soldier, but Shepard rarely took him into battle. He couldn't understand where this sudden interest came from, and why she was acting so strangely.

In fact, the more he watched Shepard, the more her behavior disturbed him. He had never seen her act the way she was now. Shepard is a respectable woman, and shouldn't have to dumb herself down for anybody. But when she was talking to Alenko, she was no longer the fierce, dominant, hilarious Noelle Shepard he had come to know. She was actually being submissive, letting him take control of the conversation, and stroking his ego when the conversation deemed it appropriate.

Though he was bothered by what he noticed about the Commander, he would never bring it up to her. She was his superior, and he knew she would grow angry at his questions. Just as he was about to stop staring, Alenko caught his eye. Immediately the Lieutenant's face changed, and he spoke solemnly to Shepard, nodding in Garrus's direction. Shepard turn around to look at Garrus, her cheeks flushing to a vibrant red. Turning around, she put her hand on Kaidan's shoulder and departed, walking towards Garrus.

Her stature changed immediately to that of the comfortable and confident Commander Shepard. "Hey Garrus!" she said. Realizing she still sounded like an excited little girl from her conversation with Alenko, she cleared her throat and said, "Did you need something?"

Garrus tried to push aside his thoughts of Shepard's behavior long enough to formulate his thoughts on the reason he actually intended to speak with her. When he found the right words he spoke. "Yeah," he hesitantly continued, trying to find the right words, "I just wanted to thank you."

The Commander looked quizzically back at Garrus. "For what?" she asked, genuinely confused about what he meant.

"Commander, I heard your conversation with Gunnery Chief Williams. No one has ever stuck up for me like that, especially a human. Most humans look at us the way Williams does, so her outlook doesn't surprise me. But, I've never met anyone like you, Shepard, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you."

The Commander's facial features went from tense to soft as Garrus spoke. Her vibrant green eyes were almost unreadable to Garrus, and by now he'd become quite good at reading human expressions. He wasn't sure what to think until she threw her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and said, "Thank you, Garrus. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm glad I have a friend in you." She wiped her eyes, and Garrus wondered if the Commander had been crying during their hug. "Anyway," she proceeded, "We're on our way to visit our first human colony-Feros. You and Alenko are coming with me, we're docking tomorrow. Be ready, I have no clue what to expect."

Garrus nodded, and Shepard took that as her cue to return to her cabin. He was surprised that Alenko was accompanying them, but her behavior towards him this morning could be enough to explain that.

Feros had thrown off the crew. They were immediately greeted by geth, who took out the one human that was to escort them to the colony. Instead, the three of them had to fight their way through a large amount of geth to actually reach the colony at all. When they had, the colonists were at the entrance wielding small pistols to do whatever damage they could. They spoke to the leader, Fai Dan, and made their way to the highway above in order to take out the remaining geth. Throughout the whole fight, Shepard and Garrus shared their wordless tactics, Garrus knowing which targets to shoot to keep them off Shepard, Shepard turning around and winking at Garrus in thanks. This only created more tension between him and Alenko, who seemed to take every single interaction personally.

The team had navigated the highway, taken out the geth dropship, and were headed back to Feros to take out the Thorian, the plant that was controlling the minds of all of the ExoGeni colonists, and what Saren and the geth were after. Shepard had insisted that they use paralyzing grenades instead of killing the colonists, who attacked as soon as they realized that the team was out to kill the Thorian. Garrus smiled as the Commander continued to surprise him.

The Thorian was much bigger than they expected. They had to take out nodes along the side of the plant in order to kill it. Out of those nodes came husk-like creatures, as well as green copies of an unknown asari commando. The Thorian's minions were easy enough to take out, but the commandos proved challenging and dangerous at close range. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for Garrus, since he usually stayed back with his sniper rifle, but one got past Alenko and ran right through to Garrus.

Before Garrus was hit with a powerful biotic throw, he looked to Alenko, and noticed that his attention was turned to Garrus, not to the fight. Had he intentionally let the commando pass? Even more suspicious was the fact that while Alenko was looking, he didn't do anything to apprehend the commando he effortlessly let pass him.

Garrus was knocked back so hard with biotics that he was bashed into the concrete walls of the complex, and his gun went off the edge of the staircase. He was defenseless when a bullet went straight through the commando's head. As the asari fell, he saw Shepard holding her shotgun; she had saved his life, her signature smirk plastered to her face as she did so.

"Damn it, Vakarian, do I have to do everything?" she jested, continuing to smirk until she knelt down next to him, seeing how hard he had hit the wall. "Shit, Garrus, are you okay?" she asked, behaving the same way a concerned parent would. She checked him for injuries while he replied.

"I'm fine, Noelle...I mean Commander," he chuckled. He only called her by her first name when it was the two of them talking; he quickly adjusted his tone so not to appear to be undermining her. "I guess my head is a little bit more banged up then I thought."

"Well luckily I've never known someone more hard-headed."

The two of them laughed as he continued, "My gun is gone, though."

After Shepard was convinced that Garrus hadn't sustained any serious injuries, she rose and took out her sniper rifle from its holster, "Here, borrow this." She threw the gun and he caught it effortlessly. She shot a look at Alenko, and they left to finish off the Thorian.

On the way back to the Normandy, Alenko decided it was time to break his silence. "Sorry, Garrus, sorry, Commander. I can't believe that asari clone got past me."

He expected Shepard to argue with Alenko, calling him on purposely letting the commando pass him, or at least for being careless in battle. But she just flashed him a smile and said, "It's okay, Kaidan. People make mistakes."

Garrus was seething as they entered the airlock. He couldn't believe the Commander had blown off Alenko's " _error"_. Garrus could have died because of what he did, and all Shepard could do was brush it off because she _had a crush on him_? The smarter half of him was telling him to cool off before talking to Shepard, but the angry turian couldn't comply. He stripped his helmet off and threw it on the floor next to the galaxy map, following Shepard into her cabin.

Shepard must not have realized that Garrus followed her because when she turned around to see him in her room she jumped. "Garrus, you scared the shit out of me!" she gasped.

Garrus, practically hissing, replied, "Well, you're scaring the shit out of me too, _Noelle_." She appeared immediately hurt by his tone, but he couldn't stop. "First, you act like a silly little girl towards Alenko, and then when he tries to get me _killed_ , you forgive him without asking for an explanation or scolding him at all?! I put my life on the line for you and for our cause every day, and this is how you repay me? By forgiving the man you're sleeping with for almost causing my death?"

Shepard's eyes were wide now, and Garrus could tell he'd pissed her off. "How dare you, Garrus!" she retorted, making Garrus feel like he had just awoken a sleeping bear. "First of all, I am not favoring Alenko because we're together and he did _not_ try to kill you! I would never condone an action like that. I thought you knew me better than that. Second of all, Alenko and I _aren't_ together, and third, us being together or not being together isn't any of your business anyway!"

Garrus scoffed, "Shepard, he _stared directly at me_ as the commando took me down. He didn't flinch, he didn't shoot her, he did nothing! He wanted me to get hurt. Even if by some chance, it was an accident, it was a _huge_ accident. I have been close to death before, that's not even what bothers me. It's that you have literally _betrayed_ me because you're into the Lieutenant. You've been the best friend I've ever had but Alenko turns you into someone that isn't Noelle Shepard. You stand back and let him take control every time he speaks, and it doesn't seem to bother you at all!"

Shepard was staring at him, tears welling up in her eyes. Garrus had crossed a line, he knew that. He reached out to her but she slapped his hand away. "Just go, Garrus. I can't even look at you right now," she whispered.

Garrus left, and couldn't sleep all night.


End file.
